5 Reasons Why Flexible Workspaces are Here to Stay

Is it just us or is everyone talking about flexible workspaces? Popularised by household names like WeWork, TOG, Regus and, more recently, names such as Second Home, Working From_Southwark and LABS, flexible offices provide fully-serviced environments for teams to thrive in.

According to our research — and the movement we’re seeing every day — demand is definitely on the rise and set to accelerate in the coming years. We’ve had a good think about why that might be.

What is a Flexible Workspace

Also known as a serviced office, flexible workspaces are offices that are outside of the traditional office realms of working, with different desk layouts and collaborative hubs. This can include part-time working, condensed hours, telecommuting, remote work and flexi-time.

Flexible working used to be a benefit for certain employees, such as parents or carers who needed to do the school run or work from home. It then became a perk offered by a number of forward-thinking businesses before COVID-19 after the benefits of flexible working were identified.

However, since the pandemic, the way we view traditional office spaces has changed, and it’s been proven to business owners that work can be done remotely to an equally high or higher standard. This has led to a rise in remote working, which leaves fewer employees in the office, which, in turn, leads to fewer desks required in offices. This is where flexible office spaces come into play.

Using a flexible workspace means you only need to worry about the desk space you use — and that’s it. The office spaces come kitted out with all the business amenities you could need, like WiFi and, in some cases, computers and hardware.

5 Benefits of Flexible Workspaces

1. Flexible contracts

Flexible offices allow you to move straight in and easily shrink or grow your space, depending on your current headcount. This also means you can budget accordingly with an all-inclusive cost and stay flexible with much shorter contracts than a typical office lease.

For startups that don’t know what their headcount is going to be in six months’ time, having this level of flexibility is imperative to grow their teams or downsize if needed.

However, even bigger and more established businesses can value this level of flexibility amid the uncertainty of COVID-19. The option for short-term, rolling contracts can offer some peace of mind.

2. Pay for the space you need

There’s no need to pay for space you’re not using just in case you may need it one day, as is the case with plenty of traditional private office spaces. With flexible workspaces, you only pay for the space you need and, if you do need to give up space at the end of your contract, you won’t have to pay a penalty for the unused space.

You can easily scale up and down on short notice and accurately budget your expenses on a monthly basis, which is what we find modern businesses need to do.

For example, we helped the network monitoring company Thousand Eyes move their London office three times in the last four years. With each move, they increased the size of their space, which wouldn’t have been possible if they were locked into a traditional office.

If you need help finding a space for your business — no matter how small or large — let our team help you search for your new flexible workspace.

3. Networking opportunities

In a traditional private office, you might meet a colleague or two at the communal microwave and then go back to your respective desks. However, coworking spaces bring people together on a much larger scale. Flexible offices means you’ll be surrounded by freelancers, small businesses and, on occasion, global organisations that are all sharing the same space as you.

Many of the flexible workspaces we place businesses in include:

• Shared communal kitchens
• Breakout areas
• Casual meeting spaces
• Quiet focus areas
• Gyms and fitness studios
• Lounges
• Conference theatres
• Event spaces

Many flexible workspace providers offer free events throughout the month, which means you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet new people. Even during the pandemic, when many community events were forced to move online, providers continued to facilitate virtual networking opportunities.

4. Employee wellbeing

A coworking space provider needs to provide competitive benefits — they’re not hooking you in for years, so they need to work hard to keep you. They need to provide you with spaces that promote happiness, satisfaction and productivity.

Providers also need to actually care about workplace wellbeing, which might mean providing concierge services, events, yoga classes and gyms, as well as really solid basics, like good old reliable maintenance. You and your staff are the highest priority (as you should be).

5. Stay ahead of the curve

Flexible workspaces have enjoyed rapid growth in the past few years, especially following the pandemic. We expect this growth trajectory will continue as real estate adapts to be even more customer-centric.

The experiences on offer in flexible workspaces is also set to increase in demand. And to accommodate this uptake, we’re seeing more examples of shops, cafes and hotels moving in on the ground floors, or generally nearer these office buildings, to cater to employees on the move. These amenities encourage people to actually go into the office and wander round the local area during break times and after work, while adding an additional sense of community, service and luxury.

Flexible office providers generally truly understand the value of looking after big and small businesses alike — and know that employee wellbeing, happiness and overall focus genuinely have the power to boost productivity and, overall, your bottom line.

At Knight Frank, we’re here to help you find the perfect office solution for your business. Our team of experts are on hand to locate the office space, arrange viewings (which we’ll attend with you) and negotiate the best deal for you — all completely free of charge.

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